5/12/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca.

There is a poem by Robert Burns called “To a Mouse” from which we get the Paraphrase “The Best Laid plans of mice and men often go astray.” That might lead you to guess my plans for today might not have gone exactly the way I wanted. I have to admit it would be a gross underestimation of how my ride plan turned out.

After getting to the Burger King only a few of us had arrived and introduced ourselves to one of our new riders, Noel, when I heard Oso Rojo yelling something at me from the corner of Gilmore and Florida. He had to get across the street before I heard we had a rider down on Acacia and Gilmore.


It then took another second before I discovered it was T-3 and she had been hit by a car. I managed to get to my bike first and was by her side in about a minute. The Paramedics were already there and attending to her and to police were arriving and getting information from Ruby Tuesday on how the accident happened. Soon the whole club was there and we stayed with her until the ambulance left and Ruby Tuesday went home to get a truck to take the bikes home. Everyone was stunned and quiet as the police and emergency services opened the street and left us by ourselves. Needlessly enough to say we were no longer concerned with the A group pursuit and hardly even wanted to ride at all. Still to get our minds off of worrying about her and knowing we could do nothing till we got a call from the Hospital we decided to try a short ride and try to shake it off.

As we rode down Kirby I got a call from Attack cat saying he was still back on Acacia with a flat. We told him we would wait at the corner after we turned off of Kirby and see how long it took before he caught up. We talked a bit as we waited and expressed our concerns for our fallen friend. It was easy to see our minds simply were somewhere other than on getting in a 30 mile ride so we decided to cut the ride very short and head straight to Domenigoni then to State Street and to Carl’s at the east end of town. First we returned to assist Attack cat as he fought with his tire and then rode together back to Sanderson and passed Walmart.

When we turned onto Domenigoni we got a chance to make a steady run to State Street with Oso Rojo hot on my wheel. We were averaging about 20 to 21 all the way down Domenigoni and then turned north and ran hard to Chambers. Cossack headed for home at Chambers and Oso Rojo had to leave for work straight up State Street. Rocket left us at Girard and Huntress turned off at Lake. Noel, Attack cat, Duramax and I made it to Fairview with Hit man in hot pursuit after stopping to remove a jacket. Hit man left us at Fairview and Florida and four of us made it over to Carl’s.

We got a chance to visit with Noel and learn about him and his family and how long he has been riding. He indicated that his wife might be joining us after recovering from a injury which I am sure will make Huntress happy. Even if we were somewhat subdued because of T-3s accident we put on a strong face and started the ride home. I tried to assure Noel that Friday would be a better ride but I realized I was only trying to keep my mind from worrying about T-3. By the time I got home I only had 24 miles on the clock but I was emotionally as tired as I have been in a very long time. After I took my shower my phone rang and much to my relief it was T-3s voice. Our prayers had been answered and she was OK and they were going to release her to come home. Suddenly I felt much lighter and my energy started to return. This is the second rider we have had that was hit by a car in two weeks and the second one that was going to need a new helmet. I know there is a debate by many on the usefulness of a bike helmet but in the case of our two riders the argument is settled, they saved their heads from some of the damage the helmet took. Two inches of foam and plastic are a lot better than two inches of skin and bone.

As they say, the best laid plans.